This Candy Is My Secret Weapon for Better Product Thinking

Not just a project—a living CPG CX case study. Invented, formulated, branded, launched, fulfilled. Over 100 five-star reviews (and counting).

Role

Product Design/Founder

Industry

Food & Beverage (CPG)

Duration

8 months to launch

Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™

Founder, Designer – DTC CPG Brand, Shopify - (5 minute read)

Danger Snacks™ | The Challenge

Think research and testing essential UX is intense? Try getting someone to put your prototype in their mouth.

Challenge
I was burning the midnight oil designing software and needed something to keep me alert … without more coffee.
I wanted a spicy snack that was portable, clean, and actually worked.
Nothing existed that hit the sweet spot between flavor, function, and format.

Founder, Designer – DTC CPG Brand, Shopify - (5 minute read)

Danger Snacks™ | The Challenge

Think research and testing essential UX is intense? Try getting someone to put your prototype in their mouth.

Challenge
I was burning the midnight oil designing software and needed something to keep me alert … without more coffee.
I wanted a spicy snack that was portable, clean, and actually worked.
Nothing existed that hit the sweet spot between flavor, function, and format.

Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™

The Work

My Role
Everything. This is a solo project … from recipe to branding to fulfillment.

I handle:

  • Product formulation, sourcing & manufacturing

  • Customer research, testing, analytics

  • FDA & commercial kitchen compliance

  • Packaging design, marketing, & promotions

  • D2C UX, Shopify tuning, email flows

  • Customer service, fulfillment, & sponsorships

Customer Research & Rollout
I started with recipe experiments … tiny test batches shared with friends, colleagues, and fellow designers.
The feedback was consistent:

“This stuff wakes me up like nothing else.”

I honed the formula (organic-sugar, spicy/sweet with a hit of sea salt), and built the brand around what it does … not just how it tastes.

On the UX side, I treat Danger Snacks as a live case study in ecommerce optimization …
funnel tweaks, abandoned cart recovery, and landing page A/B tests.
Every click, review, and reorder is data.

Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™
Danger Snacks™

Outcome + Why It Matters

Outcome

  • 2,153 DTC orders (and counting)

  • 119 five-star reviews

  • Hundreds of repeat customers

  • Used by truckers, students, athletes, and creatives

  • Customers say it keeps them alert, boosts their mood, and helps them stay focused

Why it Matters
Danger Snacks isn’t just a spicy candy … It’s a hands-on, always-evolving classroom in product design, customer psychology, and retention strategy.

It keeps me honest about what people want … and it sharpens how I manage creative teams, design, and build everything else.

Outcome + Why It Matters

Outcome

  • 2,153 DTC orders (and counting)

  • 119 five-star reviews

  • Hundreds of repeat customers

  • Used by truckers, students, athletes, and creatives

  • Customers say it keeps them alert, boosts their mood, and helps them stay focused

Why it Matters
Danger Snacks isn’t just a spicy candy … It’s a hands-on, always-evolving classroom in product design, customer psychology, and retention strategy.

It keeps me honest about what people want … and it sharpens how I manage creative teams, design, and build everything else.

Check this out

© Bryan Dorsey 2025

© Bryan Dorsey 2025

© Bryan Dorsey 2025